OK, as ya'll know (for those who remember me), I walked away from hosting karaoke quite some time ago. Sold all my gear and now am growing old in my easy chair. But I still like to get out once in a while to sing a song or two.

So, the girlfriend and I like to go out looking for places that actually does have karaoke. Bars/clubs in Utah are slowly diminishing, and karaoke isn't nearly as common as it once was. Finding a place is actually a bit difficult. Now, let's add "good" karaoke to that and it's almost a "unicorn". Literally, we have driven out of state to find some place that can offer something even close to what we think should be the "norm" as far as karaoke goes. Customer service and professionalism is rarely found.

We live almost in the dead center of Utah, and the only local bar does have karaoke. And the host is actually my friend and my old mentor. However, I wouldn't even go to her show because she is definitely not the type of host I think a host should be.

OK, here is what personally I am looking for when it comes to a place (bar or any venue) for karaoke.Friendly staff and patrons.Good customer service from staff. (meaning they check on you and if you need anything)Decent food. I am not asking for anything unusual, just something palatable I can purchase to support the venue.(I don't drink, not even soda, so food is the alternative.)Clean venue, even if it's old. I don't care, as long as I don't have to feel like getting a tetanus shot after I leave.Ample seating for my large body (ok, I need to lay off going for 'seconds' )Decent sound, meaning the mix is good, and the crowd can hear the singers along with the music. I don't care what brand of gear they use, as long as it's mixed properly (that includes mics)A fair rotation by the host. No playing favorites!!A host that will pull themselves from the rotation when the rotation becomes self-sustaining....(this is a biggie for me)A host that pays attention to the job at hand and doesn't go out to smoke every other singer (I hate dead air and wasted time)A host with friendly, welcoming personality.Professionalism. ---Duh!!A host that doesn't like to hear themselves talk and think they have to "entertain" for what seems like 5 minutes between singers.They get the next singer up quickly and won't waste time waiting for them. Move onto the next singer, if the singers aren't prompt, they will learn quickly that you mean business.I would like a decent selection of songs to choose from, and in this day and age, this isn't usually a problem.I would like to see the crowd involved in karaoke, whether it be singing, dancing or just clapping for the singers. Yes, I love it when I see a dance floor. Some karaoke spots don't feel like it's necessary, but I definitely see the positives.

There are more items I like to see, but those are the main ones. Is that too much to ask? Am I looking for a unicorn? I have driven as far as 250 miles, one way, looking for such a place, and have come up very short. Some places offer some of the things I listed, but none so far have even half of that list. I know some people will say, "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself". But when it comes to karaoke, if you are looking to sing, then you aren't going to be the host. So, for now, I keep looking and keep singing in my basement.

Your thoughts, anyone?

By the way,,, I hope all of you are doing well.

Last edited by mrscott on Sat Aug 11, 2018 2:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The one named the Highlander has been the closest so far. The biggest complaint I have with them is the KJ isn't the most social guy around, he's got a gruff attitude. Plus he spends too much time outside smoking. Other than that, the place is fine.

I don't think that what you're asking for is unreasonable at all. The sad part is, there are far more bad karaoke hosts then there are good ones. So, if you want to go out for karaoke and since karaoke bars in your area are few, you're going to have to settle for what's out there... or consider moving to another state.

_________________Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

I don't think that what you're asking for is unreasonable at all. The sad part is, there are far more bad karaoke hosts then there are good ones. So, if you want to go out for karaoke and since karaoke bars in your area are few, you're going to have to settle for what's out there... or consider moving to another state.

Moving out of state seems a bit drastic.. I am not THAT big of an addict ya know But that is exactly what I am talking about. Lousy, unprofessional hosts are the norm and bar owners/managers aren't much better either. Top that with the fact the state of Utah would love nothing more than to eliminate every bar in the state. They would much rather have people buy from the state ran liquor stores and have people drink at home behind closed doors.

As far as finding a place to sing, I probably will just have to shake my head each time I go out to sing, and wonder why I went in the first place. Is bad karaoke the "norm" everywhere?

Mr Scott,I use no bells nor whistles. My patrons love me and even those that do not sing tell me what a good show I have and some have told me it is the best karaoke they have ever heard. Every week I get a thank you from at least one or a group of them that come in together. Of course, my singers love the mix, too.

I do not consider myself especially gifted as a KJ/DJ personality, because there are a couple of others that I am in amazement of from that perspective, but I do hear across the board I am liked above them. It has to be the smile and the countenance when singing, I guess. Never frown on stage when singing, instead raise the eyebrows, look at people and they are instantly engaged and not put off by the frown.

Come to the only show I do in Lafayette, CO (suburb of Denver/Boulder) at Dillinger's from 9P-1A Saturday nights, if you ever get a wild hair to travel. I am retired and even though in retirement I did have a show around town 6 nights a week to start off with I decided to cut it back to the venue with the best, safest, and most considerate patrons and there you go, this is it.

You will not find my show on social media because I do not advertise. I have not had to. I strongly believe that endeavor belongs to the bar exclusively because I enhance his venue not the other way around and, yet, the bar does not advertise me either nor has had to.

RLC,Your signature is right on!

_________________You can never argue with a crazy mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mind ----B. JoelI have great faith in fools; My friends call it self-confidence ---- E.A. PoeI became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity ----E.A. PoeI don't know, I don't care, and it doesn't make any difference! ----A. EinsteinDouble bubble, toil and trouble ----W. Shakespeare & Walt DisneyI hate it when I get on FaceBook ----MeKaraoke might be Groundhog Day ----?Of All the Martial Arts, Karaoke Inflicts the Most Pain ----?

Funny but as I think about it, as a customer, I really don't mind a dull host if they're doing everything technically correct, and aren't playing favorites. I hope I'm not a dull host, I try not to be, but as a customer out for a night of singing, I don't really care what kind of personality the host has as long as they're doing the job right.

I don't even insist on perfect sound, it just has to be decent enough to hear and be heard.

What I can't abide is a disorganized host, one who can't keep the rotation straight, can't find a song in the system or launches the wrong one more than once, can't answer a simple question, has a terribly disorganized book full of mistakes, or takes no action to fix whatever has gone wrong. Last show I visited I was pissed off not because the host lost my friend's slip/turn (any one of us can do that on occasion on an ultra-busy night), but that he had nothing to say about it! Divine intervention wasn't required to rectify the situation.

Karaoke is by definition the customers entertaining themselves. A great host can take it to another level, but a great host isn't absolutely necessary for people to find their fun. A host isn't a bad host until they start doing things that actively get in the way, and come between the customers and their fun. A bad host almost has to do something, to go out of their way, in order to spoil someones night. You'd think that would be rare, but I've seen far, far more bad hosts than good ones.

It ain't rocket science we do as hosts, yet the "average" host quite often makes a lot of mistakes. (We ain't "average" hosts here on this forum -- relax. I'm not talking about any of us!)

Speaking of making mistakes, I had one 2 weeks ago that could have been embarrassing. It seems nearly every time Microsoft does an update to my Win10 Laptop something goes wrong. I always try to fix it b4 the show starts, but sometimes it does not rear it's ugly head until late in the show.

3 hours into my 4 hour show a few people had left and still had a request in queue. So, while one of my singers was up on a brand new song that I prefacely introduced as new and had the audience riveted upon, I decided to clean up my queue. I noticed as I deleted the first 2 in queue the application did a herky jerk but the audio/video output was unaffected. So I went forward in deleting the 3rd and that's when it happened. The song stopped dead (I know you know that definite lack of sound) and everyone went AWWWW and looked directly at me and my singer looked flabbergasted. I said "You know, I knew that was gonna happen. I'm quite perceptive that way. Sometimes I'm clairvoyant and I can see it won't happen again. (a slight pause) I'll keep my stinking fingers off the frickin' mouse this time". I got laughs from everybody and restarted the song. I stood up and sat with my audience, leaned back and enjoyed the performance.

We all do make mistakes and should not take ourselves too seriously.

_________________You can never argue with a crazy mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mind ----B. JoelI have great faith in fools; My friends call it self-confidence ---- E.A. PoeI became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity ----E.A. PoeI don't know, I don't care, and it doesn't make any difference! ----A. EinsteinDouble bubble, toil and trouble ----W. Shakespeare & Walt DisneyI hate it when I get on FaceBook ----MeKaraoke might be Groundhog Day ----?Of All the Martial Arts, Karaoke Inflicts the Most Pain ----?

.... It seems nearly every time Microsoft does an update to my Win10 Laptop something goes wrong. I always try to fix it b4 the show starts, but sometimes it does not rear it's ugly head until late in the show....

.... It seems nearly every time Microsoft does an update to my Win10 Laptop something goes wrong. I always try to fix it b4 the show starts, but sometimes it does not rear it's ugly head until late in the show....

And that's why I still use XP pro.

Amen to that!

Honestly think I'd retire if I was forced into using Win 10 -- worst product from MS ever, and that's saying a lot. Been trying it out a little on a new third laptop (primary and backup laptops run on XP Pro, one of which is practically falling apart) and I can barely turn it on and off without a snag. Took 3 tries to disable the auto updates, and I still hold my breath expecting it to try launching itself again. I don't even want to use it for filler music, much less run the show.

Who is online

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum